Review by bookcheshirecat - Go Luck Yourself

bookcheshirecat 's review for:

Go Luck Yourself by Sara Raasch

3.5

adventurous emotional funny medium-paced

“There's a moment. Where I'm staring at the door. And I think to myself "This is my rock bottom." But I might as well find out what the full depth of my rock bottom looks like. Maybe there's something interesting down here, like my dignity.”

➽ Go Luck Yourself is the companion book to The Nightmare Before Kissmas. I was excited for Kris' story as I really liked him in the previous book. I liked this book better than The Nightmare Before Kissmas because the plot was a lot stronger, but it still wasn't quite enough for a 4-star rating. We follow Kris, Coal's brother, who investigates St. Patrick's Day as someone has been stealing joy from Christmas. Unfortunately, their prince, Lochlan is Kris' college nemesis, so there's already bad blood between them!

➽ I liked Kris, who is still struggling with the fallout of the last book. After a lifetime of being useful to Christmas, he feels lost now that his brother has taken over. Kris deals with a lot of anxiety and panic attacks, which is very relatable to me. I found his inner commentary very funny and thought he was an endearing character. Kris is flawed and messy, but cares deeply about his loved ones. Unfortunately, his abusive parents have basically destroyed his self-esteem, so he yearns to be useful to prove himself worthy. I'm glad he finally cut contact with his mother, who has been verbally abusing and guilt-tripping him for years. I'm still disappointed that his father didn't face any consequences for his actions and just disappeared. His abuse is barely talked about, but in my opinion, he deserved a much more serious comeuppance.

➽ The story was fun, as I liked Kris and Lochlan bickering with each other. They try to play nice for the press, as they're under scrutiny for a dumb prank Kris played on him. I liked their banter and how they got to know each other, looking past their own prejudices. Lochlan has been dealing with a lot of stuff because of his Uncle, who took over when he was supposed to be the heir. His sisters were true gems, I loved them! The romance had a good balance of banter and steam. I also still love Kris, Iris and Coal's friendship, they're a great team! I liked that Kris repaired his friendship with Iris after his ill-fated love confession. He liked the idea of them, but now sees that they're better off as friends.

➽ Unfortunately, the story lost its steam around the halfway point, much like the first book. I feel like the author crammed too much plot and action into the ending, so I liked the second half much less than the first one. The drama between Lochlan and Kris felt a bit drawn out, he barely had a reaction to one revelation, but then the author crammed in another plot twist. The ending was resolved way too quickly, and Kris was pushed to forgive Lochlan, despite having reasonable doubts about his actions. The first half was definitely 4-star material, but the ending pulled it down a bit.

Content Warnings